This invention relates to a storage case for protecting a magnetic tape cassette, such as a digital video cassette or the like.
Among various broadcasting apparatuses used in a broadcasting station or the like, a compact and portable digital video camera has been recently used as a TV camera exclusively for news gathering by video recording. This type of camera has been used by many cameramen in the broadcasting station and specialists in a field of video recording, etc. because high grade pictures can be obtained by digital signal processing with this type of camera, even though it is of small-size.
Three types of digital video cassettes(DVC) having different recording times have been used for loading in this portable digital video camera. They are encased in three different cases respectively to be sold on market.
The magnetic tape cassette such as the digital video cassette or the like has been used in many cases, for recording such matters as important on business, for example, for video recording on the actual spot of news gathering, for reproducing thereafter in the broadcasting station for editorial purpose, etc. For this reason, an information of record accompanying the video record is also important, and often contained in the same storage case to carry it with the magnetic tape cassette. By treating the record information in this way, an indication of the video record contained in the magnetic tape cassette, related information on the actual spot, etc. can be easily confirmed by referring to the contents of the video record afterward at a meeting or so.
Conventionally, the video record information of this type has been usually indicated on a label attached to a surface of the magnetic tape cassette and the storage case, or on a sheet or a leaflet inserted into a gap in the storage case. However, since the storage case has a thickness for containing only the magnetic tape cassette, only a small amount of the information sheets can be stored together with the magnetic tape cassette.
It is conceived, therefore, to widen the gap d for containing the information sheets between a storing portion 1 and a lid portion 2 of the case as shown in FIG. 1. For preventing the magnetic tape cassette from moving in a stored state, a plurality of ribs 4 are projectingly formed at inner side walls of the lid portion 2 to press a peripheral edge of the magnetic tape cassette 3 toward the storing portion 1. By making these ribs 4 higher, the gap d can be widened.
However, the information sheets 5 contained in the gap d are not fixed in this arrangement. In case where a number of the sheets are overlapped, the information sheets 5 will jump out when the lid portion 2 is opened, or edges of the sheets are folded or protrude out of the case since the sheets are not fixed in a position. This makes the lid portion inoperable to be locked into a closed position. This arrangement is thus inconvenient in use. This is a first problem of the conventional cassette case.
In addition to this, the conventional storage case for storing the magnetic tape cassette is formed compact according to an outer dimension of the magnetic tape cassette. As shown in FIG. 2, it consists of a storing portion 101, a lid portion 108 connected by means of a connecting piece 107 at a longitudinal side of the storing portion 101, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin, and adapted to be opened or closed by means of thin portions 109 which are formed along edges between the storing portion 101 and the connecting piece 107 as well as between the connecting piece 107 and the lid portion 108.
However, in the magnetic tape cassette storage case of this type a thickness of the resin is considerably thin. Especially at the side of the storing portion 101, lateral walls for holding the cassette are simply formed upright at the four corners of a bottom plate of a flat plate, and when external forces are applied in the longitudinal direction of the storing portion 101 as shown by arrows in FIG. 2, the storing portion 101 swells outward as shown by a dotted line, as a so-called open-mouth phenomenon, thus causing inconveniences, for example, dust prevention property falls, external forces are exerted on the magnetic tape cassette contained inside, locking is easily disengaged to make the magnetic tape cassette slip off, and so on.
The magnetic tape cassette as above described is provided at both sides of the storing portion and the lid portion with locking projections and locking recesses which are adapted to elastically engage with each other in a closed state. In spite of provision of such locking mechanism, the above described open-mouth phenomenon has occurred due to elasticity of the resin.
Although such deflection can be overcome by thickening the resin to increase rigidity, this will incur an increase of cost for materials for molding, and cost for exterior package will be higher as compared with cost for the product. Moreover, the external appearance will not be so good in this case.
Further, a back label having a bar code is often attached to a back face of the magnetic tape cassette. Through the storage case which is transparently formed, the bar code on the back label of the magnetic tape cassette can be read from the outside. In such a case, if the locking mechanism is provided in a position where the open-mouth phenomenon occurs, the locking mechanism will be an obstacle for reading, or the reading area on the bar code deforms due to elastic deformation by locking, thus resulting in imperfect reading. This is a second problem of the conventional cassette case.
Further, a magnetic tape cassette is usually stored in a magnetic tape cassette storage case in order to protect the magnetic tape cassette from dust or a shock from the exterior. FIGS. 3 and 4 show such a conventional magnetic tape cassette storage case, of which FIG. 3 is a perspective view and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along a line Axe2x80x94A in FIG. 3.
This type of magnetic tape cassette storage case 201 comprises a storing portion 204 provided with lateral walls 205, a lid portion 202, and a connecting piece 203 for connecting the storing portion 204 and the lid portion 202, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin. This magnetic tape cassette storage case 201 is provided with a transparent sheet 206 so as to cover apart of the lid portion 202 and the connecting piece 203. The transparent sheet 206 is stretchingly provided with its one side edge 206a welded to the lid portion 202 of the case 201 and with its other side edge 206b welded to the storing portion 204. Information sheets such as a label, a record memorandum or the like are inserted between the transparent sheet 206 and the lid portion 202 for storage.
In the conventional magnetic tape cassette storage case 201, the transparent sheet 206 covers only a part of the lid portion 202 and the connecting piece 203 (about one-third of the lid portion 202 in FIG. 3). Therefore, in case where the information sheet to be inserted has a size as large as the case 201, the information sheet will protrude out of the sheet 206. Therefore, when something touches a portion of the information sheet, there may be a fear that the information sheet slips out due to friction from between the sheet 206 and the lid portion 202. Even when the information sheet is completely inserted between the transparent sheet 206 and the lid portion 202, the information sheet, if it is thin, may come out from between the transparent sheet 206 and the lid portion 202 while carrying the case. This is a third problem of the conventional cassette case.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem of the conventional art.
In particularly, an object of a first aspect of the present invention is to overcome the above described first problem, and to provide a magnetic tape cassette storage case which can contain a large amount of information sheets for carrying them with the magnetic tape cassette by adding a simple arrangement.
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by providing a storage case for a magnetic tape cassette comprising a storing portion for storing the magnetic tape cassette, a lid portion having an outer wall surrounding the storing portion, and a hinge portion for connecting the storing portion and the lid portion to be opened or closed, all of which are integrally formed,
characterized in that at least a pair of pressing ribs are provided inside the outer wall of the lid portion to contact a peripheral edge of a surface of the magnetic tape cassette when the magnetic tape cassette is stored, thereby holding the magnetic tape cassette between the pressing ribs and the storing portion, the pressing ribs defining a gap between the lid portion and the magnetic tape cassette for containing information sheets, said pressing ribs including respective holding ribs projectingly formed in a direction of the cassette face, thereby holding paper ends of the information sheets.
With the above arrangement according to the present invention, inconveniences such as jumping out, falling, protruding of the information sheets can be eliminated, by gripping the paper ends of the information sheets with the holding ribs formed at the pressing ribs provided inside the lid portion to secure the information sheets in thus fixed position.
The pressing ribs can be formed two each on three faces of the outer wall of the lid portion. Providing as many pressing ribs as possible in this way will enhance holding force against the information sheets.
In order to improve insertion workability of the information sheets into the holding ribs, while maintaining the holding force to a certain extent, the following arrangement is preferable.
The pressing ribs having the holding ribs may be formed at one side of the outer wall of the lid portion and at a backward outer wall which is located behind the cassette when the lid is closed. The other side outer wall may be provided with the pressing rib of the type without the holding rib which serves as a spacer for the information sheets while pressing the magnetic tape cassette. With such an arrangement of the ribs, the information sheets need not be positioned in alignment with the two confronting ribs formed at the side outer walls, and insertion of the information sheets 17 can be performed smoothly, thus enhancing the workability.
Inside one of the sideward outer walls of the lid portion may be formed with the pressing rib having the above described G holding rib, and inside the other sideward outer wall may be formed with the pressing rib which is not provided with the holding rib and functions only as a spacer for the information sheets while pressing the magnetic tape cassette. In other words, a pair of the pressing ribs consisting of the pressing rib having the above described holding rib and the pressing rib without the holding rib are formed confrontingly at the inner faces of the sideward outer walls of the lid portion to hold the information sheets.
With this structure too, the information sheets need not be positioned in alignment with the two confronting ribs formed inside the sideward outer walls. Therefore, insertion of the information sheets can be performed more smoothly, thus improving the workability. Further, since the holding rib may be provided inside a corner between the two adjacent outer walls so as to bridge the two outer walls, the holding rib functions as a reinforcing clamp member, thus preventing deformation such as inclination of the two outer walls.
The pressing rib in the present invention may be so constructed as to simply press the cassette to hold it, or as to simply abut the cassette, or maybe so constructed as to simply define the space for containing the cassette leaving gaps around the cassette.
In addition to this, it is an object of a second aspect of the present invention to overcome the above described second problem by adding a simple arrangement and to provide a magnetic tape cassette storage case which is hard to flex and hard to cause the open-mouth even though material having the same thickness is employed.
The above object of the present invention can be achieved by a magnetic tape cassette storage case, which comprises a storing portion for storing the magnetic tape cassette, a lid portion having an outer wall surrounding the storing portion, and a connecting piece for connecting the storing portion and the lid portion to be opened or closed, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin,
characterized in that the storing portion is formed with a recess at a mating position between the storing portion and the lid portion in a closed state at a longitudinally middle portion, while the lid portion is formed with a projection for engaging with said recess.
According to the above-mentioned construction of the invention, when an external force is applied to the storing portion to flex it outward in the longitudinal direction, the recess is caused to decrease. However, the decrease of the recess is hindered by the projection of the lid portion, thus maintaining the storing portion rectilinearly.
The above described object of the present invention can be achieved by a magnetic tape cassette storage case according to the present invention, which comprises a storing portion for storing the magnetic tape cassette, a lid portion having a transparent outer wall surrounding the storing portion, and a connecting piece for connecting the storing portion and the lid portion to be opened or closed, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin,
characterized in that the storing portion is formed with an engaging projection at a mating position between the storing portion and the lid portion in a closed state at a longitudinally middle portion, while the lid portion is formed with an engaging recess for engaging with said engaging projection thereby to constitute a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism being formed at a position off a reading area of a bar code on a back label provided on a back face of the magnetic tape cassette.
According to the invention, because the case is locked at the mating position between the storing portion and the lid portion which tend to open, there will be no open-mouth. Further, because the locking position is out of the bar code reading position on the label of the magnetic tape cassette, the locking mechanism will not be an obstacle for the bar code reading, and an inconvenience caused by the elastic deformation of the locking mechanism can be eliminated.
Further, the above described object of the present invention can be achieved by a magnetic tape cassette storage case according to the present invention, which comprises a storing portion for storing the magnetic tape cassette, a lid portion having an outer wall surrounding the storing portion, and a connecting piece for connecting the storing portion and the lid portion to be opened or closed, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin,
characterized in that a bottom plate of the storing portion and a lid plate of the lid portion are formed projectingly outward beyond their lateral wall and outer wall, a projected part at one side of shorter edges of the storing portion being cut away, whereby a load from longitudinal both ends is applied to only the projected part of the lid portion.
According to the invention, because the projected part of one side portion of the shorter edges of the storing portion is cut away, the external force itself will not be applied to the storing portion. Moreover, because there is provided no deflection preventing mechanism nor the locking mechanism, the arrangement for preventing the open-mouth can be most easily realized.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned third problem by providing a magnetic tape cassette storage case which can contain the information sheet as large as the storage case and which is free from the risk of slipping out of the information sheet from between the transparent sheet and the lid portion.
The above-mentioned object of the present invention can be achieved by providing a magnetic tape cassette storage case comprising a storing portion for receiving the magnetic tape cassette, a lid portion for covering the storing portion, and a connecting piece for connecting the storing portion and the lid portion to be opened or closed, all of which are integrally formed of synthetic resin, characterized in that the lid portion is formed with ridges at its longitudinal opposite edges, a transparent sheet being provided between the ridges with its one side edge welded to a latitudinal side edge of the lid portion to cover at least the lid portion and the connecting piece, the other side edge of the transparent sheet being welded to the storing portion.
According to the present invention, the transparent sheet is spread over the entire face of the lid portion and the connecting piece. Therefore, the information sheet having a satisfactorily large dimension can be contained between the lid portion and the connecting portion, and the contained information can be prevented from dropping out by means of the ridges.
It is preferable in this invention that at least one of the ridges are provided with a cut-out.
With this structure, a man""s finger can be inserted through the cut-out into between the transparent-sheet and the lid portion, thus enabling the information sheet contained therein to be pulled out easily.
Further, in case where the cut-out is formed in at least one of the ridges, it is preferable to form another cut-out in a corresponding edge of the lid portion.
With this arrangement, the finger can be inserted from the cut-out in the lid portion through the cut-out in the ridge, and therefore, it will be more easily achieved to pull out the information sheet from the inside.
In addition to the above-described structure, further ridges may be provided also in longitudinal opposite edges of the connecting piece and the storing portion. In this case too, the cut-out is preferably formed in either of the ridges, and more preferably the cut-out may be formed in the edges of the corresponding connecting piece and storing portion.
The transparent sheet may cover the continuing entire surface of the lid portion, the connecting piece and the storing portion.